It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I felt a bit of guilt after slagging off poor Sir Henry and his four wives in my last post - bad Karma and all that. We've come a long way since those days when average life expectancy was probably in one's 30's, if that. So Sir Henry, may you rest in peace alongside your wives.

I've been getting really spoiled recently and Tuesday was no exception. I was given an early Christmas prezzie by my cousin, Lucy, who knows me well and invited me to the theatre with her to watch a Christmas pantomime, Sleeping Beauty. Before the panto we wandered around the Old Market Square to see all the sights of the Winter Wonderland.

This is the view at the centre of Nottingham. The domed building is the Council house where the Sheriff of Nottingham has his office together with his merry band of Councillors! This is also where most of the City Departments are located together with reception and banqueting rooms for visiting dignitaries. The annual Christmas tree has been there ever since I can remember, but what has been added in recent years is a seasonal ice rink and lots of little cabin and chalets, selling everything from hot chocolate to whisky!

       I had to stop at the roasted chestnut stand, I haven't had these in years, they are sooooo good!

OMG when I saw this cabin, I couldn't believe my eyes!!! Only in England you say!

After coming from Canada, I couldn't believe they were selling make-your-own-snow!

Eco-friendly, always cold to the touch, makes a great gift!! I was tempted to buy some for gifts to

send to Canada but white powder, in the mail, nah…... I don't think so! The girls were Polish so we ended up having a good natter in Polish!

We weren't tempted by the chocolate cabin, well maybe a bit!

There were lots of people out skating even though it was freezing - I guess it's all relative!

We finally headed off to the theatre:

Nottingham Playhouse

This is where my love of live theatre was born following a school field trip to see The Merchant of Venice. William Shakespeare, every school kids favourite…... or not!!! The beauty of theatre in England is that it is affordable to most, with different price ranges for students, under 16's, seniors and the unwaged. School field trips to the theatre are very common and if you go to a matinee performance there are often bus loads of school kids there. While a student nurse in London, we were often given freebie tickets to West End productions and I was able to see first class actors including Liz Taylor,

Diana Rigg, Peter Ustinov and others. Judi Dench, the current M in the James Bond movies started off her acting career in Nottingham.

This is a view of the sculpture Sky Mirror, a big silver dish overlooking the patio area at the theatre.It

cost 1.2 mill. GBP when it was installed in 2001. Across from the patio is this cathedral:

St Barnabas RC Cathedral.

This is where I was baptized and the church I attended when I was living in Nottingham. I'll have to take some photos of the interior as it's really quite a majestic building. The architect was Augustus Pugin who also designed the interior of The Houses of Parliament.

Ooooh and now it's time for the performance. The theatre was full of people, lots of excited kids and adults.

 Pantomime or panto is an English Christmas tradition that has been around in some form or other since the Middle Ages and maybe even earlier. It's hard to explain it's attraction to non-Brits, you have to see it to appreciate it but it's great fun for ALL ages. It's a kind of musical comedy, loosely based on a fairy tale and designed for family entertainment. It includes songs, slapstick comedy and dancing, has men dressing up as women and usually has a villain or villainess. It is designed to be participatory and the audience often joins in with the singing and the booing and hissing of the villain.

Sounds weird but it isn't!

So what did I go and see:

And it was totally brilliant!! Lots of fun and lots of laughs and TOO much snow - what is it with the Brits and snow, I'm trying to get away from it!!

A really great evening, thanks Lucy!!